Appearance: Pours a dark reddish-brown 2with about half an inch of off-white head that takes its time dissipating, leaving some edging bug not a lot of lacing

Aroma: Sweet – caramel malts, maybe a touch of chocolate. A bit of alcohol in the nose as well, which is surprising given the ABV.

Taste: Watery, for the most part. Faintly nutty and slightly sweet up front, very bitter in the middle and through the finish. Hints of yeast and alcohol in the aftertaste. It does get better as it approaches room temperature – there’s a raisin flavor in the middle in particular that wasn’t there at first—but the aftertaste never really improves.

Mouthfeel: Light for a porter – medium-bodied, but barely. Doesn’t coat the tongue or the teeth. Maybe a touch too carbonated, though.

Iron Maiden is one of my all-time favorite bands, and their previous collaboration with Robinso’s, a pub ale simply called The Trooper, was a drinkable but ultimately unspectacular beer that compares favorably to something like Boddington’s. So given those parameters, I had fairly low expectations for this one when I picked it up. I was still disappointed. This beer is fucking awful – watery, mostly flavorless, and a strong, slightly acidic aftertaste that lingers for entirely too long. I could only handle about half the bottle – I poured the rest of it out.

Clayton T. Michaels (Senior Editor) is a mild-mannered college English teacher by day, and a craft beer drinking, black metal and grindcore loving misanthrope by night. He's also an award-winning poet, rabid Red Sox fan, and avid consumer of all things WWE. Send him your promos at [email protected] You can also occasionally find him on Twitter as @sbkvlt and more frequently as ironhops on Instagram.

18th Street Brewing Jade American Pale Ale (5.5% ABV) Pour: 12oz can into a snifter Appearance: Pours a lovely dark gold with about an inch of fizzy, persistent head. Not much lacing to speak Aroma: Very hoppy – juicy citrus, almost like orange juice. [...]